Live Video: Redd Kross @ Bumbershoot Music Lounge

Though they’d been playing reunion shows for the past six years, no one expected the first Redd Kross album in 15 years to be so mind-blowing. The Hawthorne, CA, band, started by brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald, played their first gig opening for Black Flag in 1980, and went on to perform with countless other punk and alternative acts throughout the 80’s and 90’s, eventually landing a major deal and MTV rotation. After releasing six albums and going through countless roster changes, the brothers McDonald put Redd Kross on indefinite hiatus while pursing other projects. Thankfully, they returned with 2012’s scorching Researching The Blues, an album full of punkish power pop and super catchy songs, and toured behind it with their classic 1987 lineup. Over Labor Day weekend, live on KEXP from the Bumbershoot Music Lounge, they performed a handful of the new songs along with some older hits, like “Lady in the Front Row” and “Switchblade Sister”. Check out their groovy, hair-flippin’ set here: